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| Jazmine Alfaro, 12 (right) killed in the crash |
Updated at 10:30 a.m.: Revised to include additional comments from the victim's godmother.
A Mesquite ISD middle-schooler died after she was trapped in an overturned school bus that crashed and burned Wednesday while taking students home from school, according to a police report.
The victim was identified Thursday as 12-year-old Jazmine Alfaro. Police said the girl's next of kin had been notified, and her aunt also named her in social media posts.
"Our hearts are grieving for her family and for all the other students and families affected," the school district said on its website.
Witnesses told police about the moments leading to the fiery crash.
Sisters Jaylene (left) and Jazmine Alfaro were on the bus. Jazmine, 12, died.
(KXAS-TV)
Before it tipped, they said, the back tires on the right side of the bus left the roadway, so the driver steered to the left into oncoming traffic. He then overcorrected, the witnesses said, swerving back to the right before the bus left the roadway and rolled onto its side in a ditch.
Jazmine's 11-year-old sister, Jaylene, was also on the bus, KXAS-TV (NBC5) reported. She said she saw her sister but couldn't reach her, the station reported.
A GoFundMe set up for Jazmine's family raised more than $5,000 Thursday.
The driver was identified as 67-year-old John Johnson in the police report, obtained by NBC5. He was hospitalized Wednesday in good condition, the district said.
District officials said the driver was hired in 2011 and had no record of accidents during his time with the district.
Alecia Torres, Jazmine's godmother, said the family still wants answers into the cause of the crash following the report.
"A 12-year-old little girl died seven minutes from home, so whoever's idea it was that it's OK to take that swerving road with no guardrails, with ditches, will all those curves...now a child will not come home," Torres told NBC5.
More than 40 students from Terry Middle School were on the bus when it crashed just before 4 p.m. The bus ignited after a power line fell onto it after it struck a utility pole, police said.
Jazmine was trapped inside the bus when it flipped, the report said. Multiple people tried to get her out but couldn't free her, according to the report.
One student has died after a Mesquite ISD school bus rolled into a ditch Wednesday afternoon with 40 students on board, officials said. (NBC 5)
Three other students were taken to hospitals from the crash scene, and all were later released, district spokeswoman Elizabeth Fernandez said. One other student was taken to the hospital from Terry Middle School after complaining of back pain, and he was awaiting an MRI on Thursday, Fernandez said.
Mesquite Mayor Stan Pickett shared the heartbreak his city and the school district were feeling in a Facebook post Wednesday night, saying he was proud of first responders and others who stopped to help and "will be forever changed by this event."
"Please, if you can, say a prayer for everyone today," Pickett wrote. "A prayer of thanksgiving for those that helped, a prayer of hope for those affected, and a prayer of mercy and grace for the family that is grieving tonight for there loved one."
When school dismissed Thursday afternoon, the parking lot was packed with parents waiting to drive their children home.
One parent, Dilicia Godemes, sat in her SUV with the windows rolled down while she waited for her daughter.
Her seventh-grade daughter was on another bus when Wednesday's fatal crash happened. The news of the crash scared the girl, and she asked her mom to take her to school instead, Godemes said.
Godemes often drives on Lawson Road, where the bus rolled over. She said the road is too narrow and should be widened.
"It's a scary street," Godemes said. "Maybe it's the problem."
Balloons fly at the site of a memorial where one student died Wednesday when a Mesquite ISD school bus rolled into a ditch with 40 students on board in the 3500 block of Lawson Road on Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018, in Mesquite, Texas.
(Ryan Michalesko/Staff Photographer)
At the scene of the crash, families stopped by to remember Jazmine. A memorial was created with teddy bears, flowers, and crosses.
Krystal Huerta stood in silence at the top of the ditch with her daughter, Nadia, as the two stared down at the charred bus and school supplies.
"I could've been looking at my daughter," Huerta said, wiping away tears.
Nadia Huerta, 12, was in the back of the bus when it rolled. She escaped through the back door. Her best friend was next to her, she said, and Nadia had to unbuckle the friend to free her from the bus.
"If not, she would probably be dead," Nadia said.
Nadia didn't go to school Thursday, and her mother said she and her two siblings won't be taking the bus anymore.
"Even if I have to quit working, they will not be on the bus," Krystal Huerta said.
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We know these citizens saved many lives tonight and we are deeply moved by and thankful for their heroic acts. But it is with a very heavy heart that we must confirm that today, we lost one student. 2/3Out of respect for the privacy of that child's family, that is all we will confirm at this time. We ask for continued prayers for this family, the Terry Middle School family and our entire MISD community. 3/3
Update: 37 children were taken to Terry Middle School to be reunited with their parents. Three children were taken to Children's Hospital with minor injuries. Community members, MISD employees and first responders acted quickly & risked their own lives to save these children. 1/3
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MESQUITE, Texas (KTRK) --
One student is dead and a second is in the hospital after a fiery crash involving a Mesquite ISD school bus.
Mesquite Independent School District is located in Mesquite, Texas, and is home to more than 40,000 students.
The district says the bus carrying 39 Terry Middle School students crashed on Wednesday afternoon.
Two students were transported to the hospital, but one child didn't make it.
The condition of the second student was not immediately known.
Thirty-seven other students were not injured, and are being reunited with their parents at the school.
Mesquite is located about 14 miles east of Dallas.
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One middle school student is dead after a Mesquite ISD school bus carrying 40 children from Terry Middle School rolled onto its side during a crash Wednesday afternoon and apparently caught fire, injuring at least one student, officials say.
Mesquite ISD reported the news in a tweet Wednesday evening, saying, "It is with a heavy heart that we must confirm that today, we lost one student."
Thirty-seven of the students were taken back to the school to be reunited with their parents, while the remaining children were transported to the hospital with minor injuries.
From Texas Sky Ranger, the bus was seen on its passenger side, having crashed or slid into a telephone pole. The cause of the single-vehicle crash has not been confirmed.
The school district initially said two students were injured in the crash, though a statement from Superintendent Dr. David Vroonland later said at least one student was hospitalized. The condition of the injured student(s) is not known.
Thirty eight other students, the district said, were taken back to Terry Middle School to be reunited with family members.
The bus appears to have caught fire and was visibly smoldering when Texas Sky Ranger arrived overhead. Much of the engine compartment was destroyed, having been consumed by flames.
With the bus passenger side of the bus against the ground, those on board apparently escaped the bus using the back door and the rooftop hatch, both of which were open.
The crash happened along Lawson Road near E. Cartwright Road about a mile from Horn High School. Officials said the roadway is closed while the scene is cleared.
Wednesday afternoon, Mesquite ISD released a statement on Facebook saying
"Attention Terry Middle School parents: The highest priority of Mesquite ISD is the safety and security of its students and staff. Between 3:45-3:50 p.m. this afternoon, a Mesquite ISD bus was involved in an accident at the corner of Lawson and Cartwright, causing a fire. Currently two students are being transported to the hospital, and there are 38 students on their way back to Terry Middle School. Counselors will be at Terry to meet with students and families. At this time we cannot release any further information. We thank you for your patience."